Tour at 20:30
Report from Elding: Amazing start with the sun shining and almost no wind. Quickly we encountered about 6 harbour porpoises that came up several times. After about half an hour sailing we encountered white beaked dolphins a pod of 5 individuals with 2 juveniles. The animals came very close to the boat and we got amazing views. After a while I realized there were more dolphin groups around the boat at least 15 dolphins were spread out in small pods. After getting a good view of these dolphins we traveled on, we spotted a few minke whales but they were very elusive and we only saw them surfacing once or twice. When sailing on we once again encountered dolphins, we were surrounded by small groups and several individuals were showing amazing aerial behaviour. Leaping high out of the water and doing backward flips! Unfortunately we had to start heading back but on our way back we encountered a minke whale that was much less elusive and surfaced close to the boat a number of times. Everybody managed to get a good look at the animal. A very good tour with spectaculair dolphins.
-Anouk
Tour at 17:00
Report from Eldey: This turned out to be the best tour of the day so far (we will see what the midnight tour can come up with)! The calm weather got joined with sunshine in the evening and we could really enjoy the wildlife in the evening sun. First up what a brief encounter with harbour porpoises again. We didn't stop because we had our aim on something bigger. A wonderful pod of 7-8 white-beaked dolphins swam slowly around us just enjoying life like just dolphins can do. After that the nice encounters continued with 2-3 minke whales during the tour. One swam alongside us for a long time and gave us excellent views as it came up to breath. We also had a second pod of dolphins, this one contained 10-15 individuals and they were just as relaxed as the first ones. Amazing! We sailed home in the evening sun with occasional minkes popping up and more harbour porpoises! Over and out!
- Marcus Bergström
Tour at 14:00
Report from Elding: The conditions continued to be ideal for whale watching this afternoon, flat sea and almost no wind. We sailed out with our mind set on spotting cetaceans and after 20 minutes we saw our first minke whale. It surfaced a couple of times quite close to us, but turned out to be a bit shy so we decided to head further out into the bay. Only a little while later we encountered two pods of very active white-beaked dolphins. One pod had about 4 individuals and seemed to be feeding, whereas the other larger pod (5-7) was quite interested in us and showed us their beautiful coloration. Everybody could take really nice pictures and admire their agility in the water. We stayed with the dolphins for a while before we sailed on. We saw a large flock of birds and went to check it out, however the dolphins soon had our attention back since they started leaping out of the water and showing true artistic behavior. After we admired them for ten more minutes, we continued our search. Soon we were rewarded by a very curious minke whale which actually sneaked towards us from the back and only came up two meters away from the boat, amazing! Then it was time for us to return to the old harbour of Reykjavik. A true fun tour with fascinating minkes.
- Barbara Neubarth
Tour at 13:00
Report from Eldey: The conditions were very good as we sailed out, the sea was very calm and it was overcast (so no sun glare to worry about) so we were optimistic. We hadn't been sailing long when, sure enough, we spotted a couple of harbour porpoises passing us and then we came upon a pod of ten white-beaked dolphins. Luckily for us they were swimming very slowly and staying at the surface so we got a good look at them and could stay with them for a while. After that great encounter we decided to head further out and see what else was lurking in the bay. We spotted a minke whale not long after and then saw five more, two of them even came within twenty meters of the boat! Towards the end of the tour the clouds even lifted a bit so we got some sun glittering beautifully on the surface of the ocean. All in all a really fun tour.
-Bryndís Ösp
Tour at 10:00
Report from Skruður: The sea was very flat and there was barely any wind when we sailed out. After 20 minutes we saw a few harbour porpoises, they only surfaced a few times so not all passengers managed to get a look. Further on the way we spotted a minke whale but we decided to move on because other boats had encountered a group of playfull white beaked dolphins. We saw the dolphins jumping in the distance and they kept going until we were close to them. Then we noticed that there were several groups around us that appeared to be chasing fish. After a while we were literally surrounded by dolphins. Another group of dolphins started showing spectaculair aerial behaviour and we moved to that group all the while surrounded by several small groups of dolphins. We left the dolphins because other boats started coming and we spotted another minke whale. This minke whale turned out to be extremely curious. Coming up next to the boat, going under the boat and spyhopping. It appeared to be checking us out and stayed around for almost 20 minutes. It was an amazing minke whale encounter, everybody had been able to see the entire animal. Unfortunately we had to leave the minke whale to go back to Reykjavik. While travelling back we kept encountering several groups of white beaked dolphins. It was an incredible trip!
-Anouk
Tour at 09:00
Report from Eldey: The sea was mirror flat this morning and with an overcast sky and no wind, conditions for spotting cetaceans were perfect. Soon we got some looks at harbour porpoises as we headed further out. We soon found a minke whale that we had a short look at before moving on. We wanted to go further out as conditions were so good and see what we could find. Next sighting proved to be a pod of 6-7 white-beaked dolphins. A relaxed pod that surfaced very close to us and it was one mother and calf with them. We also saw one dolphin that have a deformed back. We have seen this individual before and it is good to see that it is surviving despite its handicap. It is probably taken care of by the rest of the pod as dolphins are very social animals. We entered an area with a lot of birds, puffins, gulls and skuas were feeding at the surface. There we also had 3-4 minke whales and we could get excellent views as one of them was a curious young whale that approached the boat! On the way back we had more dolphins, 10-15 of them that joined us for a while in our travel back to harbour! Over and out!
- Marcus Bergström
Bird species seen on todays tours include: northern gannet, northern fulmar, cormorant, lesser black-backed gull, greater black-backed gull, black-headed gull, glaucous gull, kittiwake, razorbill, common guillemot, arctic skua and eider duck.
Status: RUNNING
We are sailing out from the Old Harbour in Reykjavik on a great day. There is some very mild winds from the south , and some small waves . Hope you are able to join us to see these amazing giants in their natural environment.
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